RGS-IBG Online CPD course in GIS
Introduction to GIS
Session 1
What this lesson covers?
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What is geographic information?
Importance of GIS
What are the existing types of GIS software available to you.
Instructions on how to get set up for this course.
What is GIS?
And why does it matter for teaching?
“Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are fundamental tools for learning
geography. They provide a means of enquiring into geography through
mapping. By extending and deepening the way that maps are used to explore
geographical issues, GIS can re-emphasise the spatial dimension of
geography, which is one of the defining characteristics of our subject
clarifying its unique role and importance in the school curriculum. Using GIS
therefore encourages pupils to think spatially, or geographically.”
Source: http://www.geography.org.uk/projects/spatiallyspeaking/
What is GIS and why it matters?
Almost everything happens somewhere and in most cases, knowing where
some things happen is critically important.
Examples:
• Position of country boundaries
• Location of hospitals
• Routing delivery vehicles
• Management of forest stands
• Allocation of funds for sea defenses
Geographical Information Systems are a special class of information systems
that keep track not only of events, activities, and things, but also of where
these events, activities, and things happen or exist.
Geographic location is an important attribute of activities, policies, strategies,
and plans.
Geographic problems involve an aspect of location, either in the information
used to solve them, or in the solutions themselves.
Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
What is GIS?
There are a number of definitions of GIS. Different groups of people (general public,
planners, teachers, scientists) can find a different definition useful.
Here are some of them:
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“GIS is much more than a container of maps in digital form”.
“A GIS is a computerized tool for solving geographic problems”
“GIS is a spatial decision support system”
“GIS is a mechanized inventory of geographically distributed features and facilities”
“GIS is a method for revealing patterns and processes in geographic information”
“GIS is a tool to automate time-consuming tasks that are too tedious or expensive
or inaccurate if performed by hand”
“GIS is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for
capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically
referenced information.”
Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
What is GIS?
Here are two definitions that can be useful for teachers:
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are a special class of
information systems that keep track not only of events,
activities, and things, but also of where these events, activities,
and things happen or exist.
Source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
A geographical information system (GIS) has the ability to store,
retrieve, manipulate and analyse a range of spatially related
data. With a GIS the user may ask questions of data related to
the map, search for patterns and distributions and investigate
the underlying relationships between different sets of data.GIS
handles data quickly and efficiently, proving mapping facilities
that may have taken many hours to complete manually.
Source: http://www.geographyteachingtoday.org.uk/fieldwork/info/teaching-technology/gis-and-maps-for-fieldwork-for-free/
Dr. John Snow
and the 1854 Cholera outbreak in London's Broad Street region
Whenever we teach a session on the introduction to GIS, we start by telling my
students the same story. In fact, it is the same story that most lecturers in GIS tell
their students because it summarises the main points about GIS as a science - or
at least in my opinion.
We are sure that many of you have heard this story before. So we will tell it briefly
and give you some materials for further reading.
Source: John Snow Inc. www.jsi.com
Dr John Snow is known as the ‘father of
modern epidemiology’ and the ‘father of
GIS’ because of the famous case of the 1854
Cholera outbreak in London’s Broad Street
region.
In the 1850s, cholera was very poorly
understood and massive outbreaks were a
common occurrence in major industrial
cities. An outbreak in London in 1854 in the
Soho district was typical of the time, and the
deaths it caused are shown in the map on
the right.
Source: UCLA http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/snowmap1_1854_lge.htm
Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
Dr John Snow
The map was made by Dr John Snow, who has
conceived the hypothesis that cholera was
transmitted through the drinking of polluted water,
rather than through the air, as was commonly
believed. He noticed that the outbreak appeared to
be centred on a public drinking water pump in
Broad Street – and if this hypothesis was correct,
the pattern shown on the map would reflect the
locations of people who drank the pump’s water.
There were anomalies, in the sense that deaths had
occurred in households that were located closer to
other sources of water, but he was able to confirm
that these households also drew their water from
the Broad Street pump. Snow had the handle of the
pump removed, and the outbreak subsided,
providing direct causal evidence in favour of his
hypothesis.
Source:
http://blogs.esri.com/Info/photos/geograp
hy_matters/images/1440/secondarythumb.
aspx
Source:
http://www.gisdevelopment.net/applicatio
n/health/overview/images/image1.jpg
Text source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. (Chapter 14, pages 317-319)
Dr. John Snow
It is worth investigating a bit more about this case and,
if you live in London or plan to make a trip to the city, I
suggest you visit the site where the story actually took
place. There is a pub called ‘John Snow Pub’ located in
Broadwick street where you can find a lot about the
story. You can also see the place where the pump was
originally located as well as a replica of the pump.
The original pump was
situated within a longstep on Broadwick
Street of what is now
the back wall of the
John Snow pub.
The location is
currently marked with
a curbstone and a
capped water pipe.
The pump with no handle is
a replica of the famous
Broad Street pump.
Source: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Snow/snowpub.html
Source: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Snow/snowpub.html
Dr John Snow
This Dr John Snow story is about spatial analysis or, in other words, on how the location in which
events take place can have help us understand better the nature of phenomenon.
At the time of the breakout, cholera was not understood to be geographically related. However,
as soon as location of deaths was introduced into the picture it was clear that this was a
geographical problem.
The most interesting point of this story is that there were no computers used for the analysis. But
we still consider it to be a story about GIS. Why is that?
More information about John Snow can be found at:
• Brody H et al 2000 ‘Map-making and myth making in Broad Street: the London cholera
epidemic, 1854’. The Lancet 356(9223) 64–8
• Johnson, Stevenson (2006) Saviour of the city. The Times, 29 November 2006. Available
online at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,682-2475618_3,00.html
• Johnson, Stevenson (2006) “The Ghost map”. London: Penguin.
• www.jsi.com
• www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow.html
• http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetchmsg?msg_id=0002Je&topic_id=1&topic=Ask+E%2eT%2e
Is GIS about software only?
Information systems help us to manage what we know, by making easy to organise and store,
access and retrieve, manipulate and synthesize, and apply knowledge to the solution of
problems.
But is GIS about computers only?
Some definitions of GIS focus on the hardware, software, data and analysis of components.
However, no GIS exist in isolation from the organizational context, and there must always be
people to plan, implement and operate the system as well as make decision based on the output.
A Geographic Information System is not only about computers, software and electronic data.
A GIS is an organised collection of :
– Hardware
– Software
– Network
– Data
– Procedures
– And people!
Source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Geographical Information
Geographical Information is different from other kinds of information and therefore
requires special methods to be analysed. Here are some of the characteristics
that make geographical information special:
• Multidimensional – at least two coordinates must be specified to define a
location
• Voluminous – a geographic database can easily reach a terabyte in size
• Different Representations - and how this is done can strongly influence the
ease of analysis and the end results
• Requires projection to flat surface
• Requires unique analysis methods
• Analyses require data integration
• Data updates are expensive and time consuming
• Map displays require fast data retrieval
Source: Longley et al (2005) Geographic Information Systems and Science. 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons Ltd.
Types of GIS
There are a number of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) (or GIS
software) available today. They range from high-powered analytical software
to visual web applications, and each of those are used for a different
purpose.
Due to the vast number of GIS available it is simply not possible to provide
training for each in this course. However, there are common feature in all GIS.
Understanding these basic features will give you confidence with any GIS
system that you use in the future.
This course will cover three groups of GIS:
• Web-based GIS: ONS and London Profiler
• Geobrowser: Google Earth
• Desktop GIS: ArcGIS
Desktop GIS
A GIS, or GIS software, allows you to interactively work with
spatial data. A desktop GIS is a mapping software that needs to
be installed onto and runs on a personal computer.
In this course, we will use ArcGIS, which is developed by ESRI.
ArcGIS is what ESRI refer to as a suite of products which can be
tailored to your need. ArcGIS is used for a vast range of activities,
covering both commercial and educational uses.
The basic version of ArcGIS is what we will be using in this course
and is all the majority of GIS users will ever need.
Geobrowser
A Geobrowser is better explained with reference to an internet browser, i.e.
Internet Explorer. In short, a geobrowser can be understood as an Internet
Explorer for geographic information. Like the internet it allows the
combination of many types of geographic data from many different sources.
The biggest difference between the World Wide Web and the geographic web
however is that everything within the latter is spatially referenced.
Google Earth is the most popular geobrowser available and will be the one
used for this course.
Web-based GIS
Web-based GIS, or WebGIS, are online GIS applications which in
most cases are excellent data visualisation tools. Their
functionality is limited compared to software stored on your
computer, but they are user-friendly and particularly useful as
they not required data download.
There are many WebGIS available, but in this course we will use
two of them: the Office of National Statistics (ONS)
Neighbourhood mapping tool and the London Profiler.
GIS Resources
Further reading:
Heywood, I., Cornelius, S. and S. Carver, 2006 (3rd Edition), An Introduction to Geographical
Information Systems (Prentice-Hall).
Longley, PA, et. al, 2005 (2nd Edition), Geographic Information Systems and Science (Chichester:
John Wiley and Sons Ltd).
General GIS Resources:
• http://www.agi.org.uk - Association for Geographic Information
• http://www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/longley/ - Companion website to Geographical
Information Systems and Science textbook
• http://www.gis.com
• http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/tf/13658816.html - The International Journal of
Geographical Information Science
• http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/gissc/ - The NCGIA core curriculum in GIScience
• http://www.rgs.org - The RGS-IBG Geographical Information Science Research Group
• http://www.ucgis.org - University Consortium for Geographic Information Science
GIS Resources
Software
ESRI – http://training.campus.com
Google Earth - http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/tutorials/index.html
Digital Worlds - http://www.digitalworlds.co.uk/
Ordnance Survey:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/education/mappingnews/previouseditions/33/p3839.pdf
Data
Ordnance Survey (maps) - http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
Office of National Statistics (socio-economic variables) – http://www.statistics.gov.uk
English Nature (landcover datasets) - http://www.english-nature.org.uk/pubs/gis/GIS_Register.asp
British Geological Survey (small scale bedrock and deposit maps) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/digitalmaps/data_625k.html
Earth Science Data Interface (satellite data) - http://glcfapp.umiacs.umd.edu:8080/esdi/index.jsp
(satellite data can be very demanding to set up)
Streetmap (useful postcode information) – http://www.streetmap.co.uk
Before you start
You will need to install ArcGIS and Google Earth software into your computer
before being able do go through the next sessions of the course.
You will also need to download data for the ArcGIS exercises.
In the next slides you will find specific instructions on how to:
1. Order your copy of ArcGIS (needed for sessions 5, 6 and 7);
2. Download the data for the exercises (needed for sessions 5, 6 and 7).
3. Install Google Earth (needed for session 4);
Software: ArcGIS
In the case your school does not have a copy of ArcGIS, you will need to obtain an
evaluation copy of ArcGIS (60 day trial only) in order to do the exercises in Sessions 5,
6 and 7.
We advise you to order the evaluation copy BEFORE you start the course, as it may
take some time before the software gets to you.
Follow this link http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcview/eval/evaluate.html
Which will take you to this page:
You will then click on the Request
a Trial button as pointed in the
image on the right. This will take
you to a page containing an
electronic form which needs to be
completed and sent online.
Alternatively, you can go straight into the following link:
http://www.esri.com/apps/products/offers/av93dvd/in
dex.cfm
Arc GIS Data
You will also need to download data in order to go through exercises using ArcGIS
software (Sessions 5, 6 and 7). The required data is available in the course website.
Follow the instructions to download it to your computer:
1. Create a folder on your computer where you will store all your GIS work.
2. Download RGS-GIS Data from the stimulus page and save it to the folder above.
3. Unzip the file (just double-click on the zip file or folder double-click on the
executable file). Once you open the zip file or folder, it should open just as if it were a
regular file or folder on your computer.
Alternatively you might need to install a piece of free software to unzip the file (go to
http://www.winzip.com/downwz.htm and click on the ‘get winzip free’ button or similarly http://www.7zip.org/ ).
4. All the data is grouped by session/exercise.
Software: Google Earth
Google Earth must be installed in your computer in order to do the exercises
in Session 4. Google Earth is freely available. To download Google Earth go to:
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html
The link will take you to this page:
In order to start the download, click
on the Agree and Download button,
as shown in the picture on the right
in red.
In this same page, you will also find
links to tutorials and movies
demonstrating
Google
Earth
capabilities. These are highlighted in
green in the picture on the right.
You are ready to start!
Once you have followed the ‘Before you start’ instructions, you
are ready to start the course!
Now all you have to do is to follow the sessions, from 2 to 8.
Please note that you must follow the order of sessions, as they
were designed as a step-by-step progress towards building
confidence with GIS.
Enjoy!